Archive for July, 2008

Seriously? THREE HOURS for 9 holes. I wanted to shoot myself. I am a hot sweaty mess.

On the other hand, I had the best round of golf I’ve played all summer. BY TEN STROKES. For those of you who don’t golf, that’s a vast improvement. Even though you don’t care. ;) Turns out that Wii Golf is good for something! It’s possible that today’s round is keeping Spouse’s LPGA dream for me alive. He would someday like to be a kept man and is mostly convinced the LPGA is the way to do it.

We golfed with some really nice guys, so despite the horrendous backup on the course we at least had good company. Not so much beer though.

Someone had the fantastic idea of ruining Lemon-Lime Gatorade by putting STRAWBERRY in it. Except instead of coloring it pink – as you would expect a strawberry beverage to look – it still looks like Lemon-Lime. I did not discover this terrible desecration of my favorite beverage until TOO LATE.

Lemon-Lime Gatorade is the only Gatorade I will drink, so why? Why ruin a perfectly good thing?

Today is the last day of WoYoPracMo. I’m pretty happy that I managed to post every day (and totally made enough posts to count for every day). Alas, the majority of my posts were not-so-yoga-related. I’m totally shocked that I’ve gotten more than a thousand hits this month. I found a lot of blogs I like reading (links to the left) and watched too much reality TV. I managed a couple new playlists for classes and also got them loaded on imeem (which was more of a challenge than I expected). I’m doing quite well in Anatomy and Physiology as well, so I guess my time management and Procrastinatory Posting haven’t been as awful as they could have.

I did it because Spouse enjoys golf, doesn’t really have any other hobbies he spends much time on, and it’s something we can do together.

I should have chosen something we can do together in the SPRINGTIME.

On my top 20 list of Fun Things To Do, you will never ever find Spend 2.5-3 hours Hitting a Tiny Ball Around a Very Long Course in 85 degree heat with 50% humidity. Now I wake up every Thursday and think, “CRAP. I have to GOLF today.”

I like golf, I’m just a seriously fair weather golfer. As in, the weather must be sunny to overcast with temperatures between 67-75 degrees.

Last night during (and after) yoga, I got to talk about body mechanics in detail with a couple of students. That doesn’t happen incredibly often, mostly because I think there are few students who are as much A&P geek as I am. The body is an awesome machine and I love learning (and teaching) about how it works. One student was a dancer for many years and is used to ‘turning out’ in standing positions. She also has the same problem that I do with my elbows- extra flexibility. One of the most interesting things (for me) about yoga is that the more flexibility you have, the more difficult practice becomes. In many ways you have to retrain your body to use different (or better) muscle groups to accomplish the same work or find an appropriate stretch.

On Runway, there is NO WAY Kenley’s dress was better than Leanne’s. No chance. Leanne’s dress was meticulous and any of the judges (including Michael Kors) would have worn it in a heartbeat. No patio chair print, mandarin collar, and puffy sleeve conglomeration there.

And on Shear Genius! I can’t BELIEVE they sent the wrong person home. Note to judges: the person you SHOULD send home is the one you KEEP PUTTING IN THE BOTTOM. Nekisa’s constantly making excuses and her Farrah was AWFUL. It looked like dreadlocks but without the actual dreadlocks.

All of the blood in my body runs to my face. I sweat like a center for the Detroit Lions. My clothes get soaked. It’s not attractive. This picture is a full 10 minutes AFTER my last sprint interval AND a 5 minute ride home WITH ALL THE WINDOWS DOWN. I was not markedly cooler. By the way, this is where I totally endorse Coppertone’s Sport Breathable Sunscreen (SPF 50, ultra sweatproof) because it really DOESN’T run in your eyes. It’s not just marketing! This is especially important to me because 1) sweat and 2) I wear contact lenses. Sunscreen in your eyes with contact lenses is like a week in the 7th circle of hell.

Back to sweaty… how gross and sweaty I was made me think, “It would be so nice to just go home, take a shower, and hang around the house naked all day.” (With towels on the couches, of course.) But we’ve got a roommate/boarder so that’s not really an option much to – I’m sure – everyone’s relief.

And that started me thinking about general nonsexual nakedness and a conversation I had with my friend Sarah the other day. I always thought I was a freak from a totally weird family because I’ve seen everyone in my immediate family naked. Bodies weren’t a big deal in my house and it was nothing to have Mom and/or Dad walking around in various stages of undress. I mean, not in front of COMPANY or anything but growing up there were the four of us (three women) and ONE BATHROOM. You have NO PRIVACY. Not to mention that my sister’s idea of cooling off after a hot day at work was to come home, take off her shirt and bra, and flop down on the couch. LEAVING HER JEANS AND COMBAT BOOTS ON.

We really didn’t just wander around the house naked all the time. We were clothed more often than we weren’t, but if someone wasn’t wearing a shirt or pants (or occasionally underwear) it was pretty normal to us. I didn’t realize that MOST families aren’t like that until I went to college. Imagine my shock.

So every once in a while someone makes a comment, or I see a movie like Home for the Holidays, where some nonchalant parental nakedness happens and the kids aren’t scandalized and I figure there must be OTHER Naked Families out there. Probably like the Spanking Families, they’re just not talking about it.

By the way, if my mother ever discovers the internet I’ll be grounded for the rest of my life.

And there you go. That’s a little snapshot of how my brain works.

These are my running shoes:

They’re called Five Fingers from Vibram and have a hard formed sole to protect the bottoms of your feet. Though I’ll tell you brother that if you’re running on hot pavement, those suckers heat up in a few miles.

They are surprisingly comfortable and provide the best calf/foot/ankle workout I have EVER HAD. They’re super light and force me to run up on the ball of my foot, hence all the work. I tend to be a heel-toe girl (not quite sure how I ever managed to be a sprinter in high school with that running style) and heavy footed. These shoes FORCE me to lighten up.

They’re also great shoes for outdoor yoga or yoga on the road. All you need are some weight lifting gloves (or fancier ‘yoga’ gloves) and you’re all set – no mat required.

P.S. You can compare the ALARMING PALENESS of my legs to my EXTREMELY RED face above in order to compare the ridiculous blood flow. At least I know my arteries and capillaries work, right?

I suspect my Swedish grandfather would disagree – that is, if we ever talked to him. I think he lives in Georgia and his wife is my mother’s age. Ironic because my mother is his oldest daughter, which makes his wife younger than my two uncles. You can just tell there are more stories there, right?

On the other side, my Native American great grandfather (Big Pa) wouldn’t say a word. He’d just laugh.

So I just woke up, on my couch, laptop in hand and couldn’ t figure out where the hell I was or how I got here or why I’d be watching basketball on TV. Trying to reorient myself, I glanced (groggily) around the room. Piper immediately started slapping her tail on the sofa. Carly came down (“Why are you still awake? Me: “I’m awake?”) and said the power’s been going on and off. (Me: Buh?)